Mexican police snare the drugs kingpin with a $5m bounty on his head after three-hour gun battle

Mexican security forces have arrested drug cartel leader Eduardo Arellano Felix, one of the international traffickers most sought by the United States, the government said.

Arellano Felix, nicknamed 'The Doctor,' was a senior member of a family cartel embroiled in a violent struggle for control of the lucrative drug trade that has killed more than 3,700 people in Mexico this year, including 450 in Tijuana.

He ran the cartel with his sister Enedina, the only main suspect from the family who remains at large after several brothers were arrested or killed.

Police arrested Arellano Felix on Saturday after they chased his car to a three-story home in an upscale neighborhood, said the federal police in Tijuana.

Gun battle: Mexican soldiers leave after a shootout where Eduardo Arellano Felix, leader of Tijuana-based drug cartel, was captured together with his daughter in Tijuana

The Arellano Felix family dominated the smuggling of cocaine and marijuana into California in the 1990s and was feared for its ruthless elimination of enemies.

Francisco Arellano Felix, Eduardo's youngest brother, was sentenced to life in prison in the United States in November after being captured while deep sea fishing off Mexico. Mexican authorities agreed in June to extradite another brother, Benjamin, to the United States to face smuggling charges.

The weakening of the family has led other Mexican drug cartels to move in on Tijuana, transforming the city from a playground for U.S. tourists into a major battleground in Mexico's drug war.

The rival gangs have adopted increasingly gruesome tactics, including beheading and mutilating their victims and dumping dozens of bodies in view of schools and other public places.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Mexico last week to discuss the drug war and said $465 million in aid for Mexico and Central America to purchase equipment and train anti-drug police would soon be released.